Among life’s profound proverbs is one unfortunately few people grasp or follow. It says everything we do to benefit ourselves over a lifetime is buried with us. It’s only what we’ve done for others that remains as a testament to our having once passed through.
In Northwest Arkansas, I remember the departed who did so much more for others, and their enduring goodness that continues to ripple through many lives.
Late 3rd District Congressman John Paul Hammerschmidt, my uncle, personally helped so many veterans over his 26 years in office and saw to it that the Buffalo National River was preserved, along with politically shepherding many public works projects, such as Interstate 49 and Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport, that benefit millions.
Granted, that was his job as a public servant. But he became widely respected for repeatedly going well above and beyond to help anyone who sought his assistance.
I think of the contributions of deceased entrepreneurs such as Sam Walton, J.B. Hunt and Sheridan Garrison of Harrison, all of whom, while living well themselves, more significantly benefited so many lives they never knew.
I came to know the mirthful risk-taker Garrison quite well over the years. His legacy is another example of my point today.
Having built his fledgling Arkansas Freightways trucking company into American Freightways during tough economic times when others were advising him how foolhardy it was to embark on that venture, Garrison forged ahead to the point of risking virtually all he owned to fulfill his vision.
Consequently, he grew American Freightways into Harrison’s biggest employer and the nation’s third-largest less-than-truckload carrier before his creation was swallowed by FedEx, the brainchild of Fred Smith, another whose life has benefited many.
So many livelihoods and senses of purpose in life have arisen from what this handful of men left in their enormous wakes.
Garrison died in 2004 while fishing alone at a pond on his property outside Harrison. As evidence of my point, the man playfully nicknamed “Tycoon” by his closest friends lives on years later in the hearts and minds of so many.
My friend Ken Reeves, a Game and Fish commissioner from Harrison who was closest to Garrison, sent the following email chain of remembrance last week.
“Sheridan would have been 84 years old today. Things sure have been different without him. He was good to all of us. Several of us are still reaping the benefits of our friendship and working relationship with him. Harrison is still doing so too. His company is the economic engine that keeps it going.
“The parking lot is still full … of top quality vehicles. How time flies. Hard to believe he has been gone over 14 years. Hope he is having fun now—probably doing something mischievous.”
Garrison’s former CFO Frank Conner responded: “I don’t know where I would have been now without his impact. But I do know it would not be as good.”
Fred Garry, who helped Garrison found American Freightways and owns Fred Garry Inc., the independent FedEx service center in Harrison, replied simply “Thanks, Tycoon.”
Yes, the effects of what we do for others is what survives our inevitable departures.
Ripples and reminder
The 17 men, women and children, including nine from one Indianapolis family, who tragically perished when an amphibious duck boat capsized on July 19 during a storm on Table Rock Lake is a somber reminder of just how uncertain and fragile life can be.
I can’t fathom the agony of such overwhelming loss that survivors Tia Coleman and her 13-year-old nephew are experiencing as they come to grips with finality of suddenly losing nine beloved family members, all from the Indianapolis area.
Those dead included Tia’s husband, Glenn, and three children rescuers reportedly found in the water beside their father, who tried to save them. How could life possibly get more heartbreaking?
It’s been equally devastating for Pam Smith of Osceola, who lost husband, Steve, and 15-year-old son, Lance. Thankfully, their 14-year-old daughter, Loren, survived and reportedly even helped save at least one child.
Like the Colemans, Pam, Loren and their extended family and friends must endure the unbearable aftermath of such loss: the “what ifs” and “if onlys.”
One inevitable question many survivors ask when others around them perish is why they were spared. Tia Coleman told reporters she thought she was dead when the duck sank.
Such enormous loss for Tia and her nephew deeply affected hearts across the nation, as evidenced by the contributions that immediately began pouring in, hopefully to help in any way possible.
To be surrounded by the love of her husband and extended family one minute only to have it ripped away the next and then to lay them to final rest is beyond any grief I can remotely conceive.
The close-knit Colemans had been on their annual vacation in Branson when they decided to ride the ducks before dinner. It was a simple choice that should have gone smoothly for their three generations who boarded the doomed boat, including four Coleman children, all under 10 years old.
Soon after the ill-advised boarding came a previously forecast storm with near-hurricane-force winds, which quickly transformed the normally placid lake into a turbulent death trap for 17 of the 31 aboard. The disaster was witnessed, even videoed, by those waiting to board the nearby Branson Belle showboat.
The ripple effects from this shocking loss run wide and deep within the Indianapolis and Osceola churches, schools and organizations that knew and cared about these families. And I certainly don’t ignore the other lives lost along with them.
The horrific scene also is bound to remain indelibly etched in the memories of first responders and those who helplessly watched the capsizing boat as those 17 lives slowly disappeared beneath the waves.
Mike Masterson is a longtime Arkansas journalist. Email him at [email protected].